Interlocking-brick construction



D. TAMBONE INTERLOCKING BRICK CONSTRUCTION Filed April 10', 1926 Jomy'wrk/r' TrmJarre 1 A's Qua/"e41 Patented Aug. 21, 1928.

"UNITED STAT This invention s PATENT "OFFICE.

DOMINICK TAMBONE, OF NEW YORK, N Y.

. mrnmocxmeamox ooivs'mucrion.

Applicationhled April 10, 1926. Seria1No.1,01,199.

relates to improvements:

in building construction and more particularly to the construction of walls by means of interlocking elements suitably designed to answer the requirements of all practical purposes, permitting the production of relatively light and at the same time rigid structures having a high load supporting capacity and capablealsoi of effectively resisting the eflects of earthquakes disrupting agents.

The primary, object of this invention provide an interlockiing brick or block and other is, to

of an improved design which may be used forespecially suitable general construction purposes and which is for those constructions which are exposed to the action of disrupting agents such as.earthquakes,.or to a high temperaturesuch as obtains in furnaces of various kinds, etc.

, Another obj vide anovel and 1 i this avenues is to promproved' deslgn of; brick or building blockwhich is adapted to interlock with other similar elements in any position in which ordlnarlly be laid the brick or; block may the resulting structure allowing forjrtlie necessary spaces between bricks or blocks forthe insertion of mortar between adjoining elements.

A further-obj ect is to prov de animproved system of wall construction, in which interlocking bricks or blocks are used, so designed as to be interlocking with one another in any position in which said bricks or blocks may ordinarily be laid, allowing the necessary v spaces between adjoining elements v for the insertion of mortar or otherv binder used. 1

Other objects and; advantages of the present invention will more f proceeds. an

the description forth and claimed in appended claims;

One of the main causes of damage to brick buildings subjected" to earthquakes lies in the absence of a bond of an interlock ing nature between the bricks of which a structure may be composed, Due to the fact that in ordinary brick buildings, the binding action between ad vided entirely by themselves having joining elements is prothe mortar, the bricks fiat surfaces all around,

looking with one another th'at rigidity, of structure which would other 'Inafbroad sense, this-idea 0t new, since interlocking bricks or building block's Lot various desig s have hereto- 11y appear "as will be set there is lacking a sufficient rigidity in the structure in a lateral direction, and'this per; mits ready disruption of walls andother parts of the building, especially in such cases where the mortar used is of relatively poor quality.

In other instances, when brick walls are exposed to exceptionally high temperatures wise lacking,

fore been used; but, in solar asl know these bricks and'blocks have failed to answer the, generally; in

requirements of. constructions use, especlally in 'this, that theyi'ailto allow for the proper interstices between adjoining bricks or blocks'ji'or the insertion of mortar. r i j I In other words, those bricks and blocks of theinterlocking type which are known to me ares'o designed that when used in building a wall, the resulting structure is solidly,

occupiedby thebricks or blocks which are abutting there is no, room leftffor a binder of any kind. This results in. the binding action betweentheb'ri'cks being left entirely to the interlocking joints,i and this condition, of course, is not'sufiicient to provide the necessary "rigidity j in a horizontal sense and totallyfails to provide a binding action in the ertical sense. l

*The brick or blck forming one of the objects of'the present invention isdesigned to overcome this condition and to provide a building material aiiording I the desired andfwhich provide directly against each other, and,

. versal sense.

interlocking action, at the same time providing a suitable space between adjcining elements for the use of mortar in the usual way; this being obtained by a special arrangement of the interlocking means which are suitably located in. relation to one another, so as to cause proper positioning of the various bricks or blocks to automatically take place when the wall is constructed. H The inventive idea may be applied in a number of different ways, and a. typical example which is illustrate'd in the drawings, has already been illustrated and described by me inv another patent application for earthquake proof building construction, filed by me February 17th 1926, Serial "No; 88,749; and referring to said drawings I Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of an interlocking brick or block such as may be used in my improved type of construction; Fig. 2is a plan view of the same; i n Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a solid wall built by means of the brick or block illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. i is a fragmentary frontelevation of the same I c 1 c Fig. 5 is a fragmentary pian View of a hollow wall in which bricks or blocks of the same character are employed; and i Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front elevation of the same.

qlfn order to answer all practical require;

ments interlocking units for the construc-v tion of walls should be adapted to interlock both in a longitudinal and a transthat perfectly square corners and even surfacesfare obtained ata'll times. The inter locking action takes place between units which are superimposed or partly superimf posed. on one another and isobtained by viritue of projections provided upon one ofthe surfaces of one unit registering and interlocking with depressions provided in the another; that the units will automatically assume a relative position insuring contin uit-y of the bond between units throughout the entire wall, at the same time causing clearance spaces to be left betw'een'the vertlcal surfaces of ad oin ng units in a hor1- zontal sense in order to provide room for the necessary mortar. hlortar is also employ'ed, of course, between adjoining horizontal layers andtherefore'suitable provisions are also made in order to allow the necessary clearance space; this can be ob,- tained either by making the projections on;

one unit a little larger than the depressions I I Furthermore, when interlock-f ingin a transversal sense, theside of one unit should remain flush Withthe head of the unit or unitsinterlocking therewith so mortariis. spreadlall over its surface, and a,

new layer of units is then set in place withmortar; said layer of mortar following the irregular outlines of' theunits. i l

I prefer to follow a midway course be, tween these two eXtremes'by making the projections exactly ofthe same size as the depressions, so: that a positive interlocking action in a lateral sense'is obtained even if no-mortar' is: used betweenfadjoining horizontal layers since by making the projec-' tions and'depressions'" with tapering out line, this" also makes it possible to" obtain continuity of a layer of, mortar spreadbetween adjoining horizontal layersexcept that the spaces between the" sides of the depressions I and projections interlocking therewith will adjoining horizontal surfaces: v v In order to obtain the proper position of the various: units when: a wall is'c'onstructed, I make the length and width breach unit interdependent in orderto make the proper allowance ifor themortar space; and while various forms ofinterlo'ckin'g' means: may be used, I also'make interdependent the relative positions assumed by said 'interlockin'g means for" the purpose of both longitudinal andtransversal' binding action. The invention will be better understood by referring tothe annexed drawings, illustrating bricks in which the interl ocking' action is obtained by means ofricl'ges'and corresponding depressions. 'fonning a. maleand female joint} I i V Referring to Figs-. 1 and 2,. it is seen that be somewhat smaller than the space between said projec-l out breaking theeontinuity of the layer of the brickbr bloc'kfi hhas its upper surface formed with a central longitudinal ridge 25 crossed by two'transversal ridges 2'6, 27,.

and its lower surface formed with, corresponchng depressionsv or grooves 28, 29, 30

adapted toregister. the ridges of a similarunderlyinjg brick orblo'ck;

The widt'lr and length of the brick, and" the distance between the transversayl ridges and depressions and the ends of the brick? are interdependent and. iira definite relation; to each other, being calculated and positioned so that when a wall is built suitable interstices Willb'eleft between adjoining surfaces to provide for an adequate thick ness of mortar betweenbrick brick or block andblock. For instance, if a, desighates the thickness of the mortar, the length of the brick Z), is equal to twice its "width 0, plus a; and the distance d, between the transversal ridges and depressions and the end of the bricknearest thereto, is equivalent to one-half of 0.

Due tO'tlliS construction, adjoining elements may be caused to interlock in any desired manner leaving a suitable space'all over for a layer of mortar between adjoining elements. Thus, if a layer of bricks is laid with the bricks arranged end to end as shown in 44, 415, 46, and a similar layer 32, 33, 34: etc., is laid on top of the same, with its elements in a staggered relation to the others, the elements will interlockleaving spaces as at 35 for the mortar. If the wall thus built is of a thickness corresponding to two longitudinal rows of bricks, as shown in F ig; 6, occasionally twoside adjoining longitudinal bricks may be omitted and in their stead two transversal bricksmay be used as shown as at 86, 37 in this case, these transversal bricks act as binders between the two longitudinal rows of bricks of which the wall is constituted, interlocking with the bricks of both rows, still leaving a space as at 38 for the mortar between the two longitudinal rows. 7

The wall thus obtained is therefore very solid because its elements are interlocking with one another in all directions.

By usingbricks or blocks of special length, it is also possible to build hollow walls as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 where the two longitudinal rows of bricks or blocks 39, {l0 are separated by a space ll and l-lQQ.COI1I18Ct6Cl by transverselyarranged bricks or blocks 42, 43, the'length of which. is equivalent to the width of the two rows plus-the width of theintervening space,'said transversal members being also provided with ridges and depressions adapted to interlock with the ridges and depressions of the elements used in the construction of the wall proper.

A building thus constructed is quite as strong as if its walls were built solid throughout; and furthermore its sanitary and heat retaining properties are improved and its cost is much less than if solid walls were employed. 1

In the example illustrated, theridges and thedepressions are of a corresponding size, sothat an interlocking action may be obtained whether mortar is used or not as pre viously explained. a

The units employed. in my improved wall construction may be either bricks or build ing blocks made of a suitable cement composition, concrete or other suitable materials. It is obvious that a wall thus constructed is considerably strengthened in a lateral sense and isnot easily disrupted by earthquake shocks or bythe disentegrating effects of heat, due to the positive bond established in order to'hold the two spaced sections 'of a wall together.

The positioning of the vtransversal bind ing means ini'elation to the end surface of a unit to correspond to the positioning of the longitudinal binding means in relation to.

the side surfacesis a novel feature, which is mainly responsible for the adaptability of theunit described for allpur'poses of blllltln ing construction; this feature together with the relation existing between thewidth and length ofjeach unit being also responsible for the superior results obtainable in building. walls: which are both interlocking throughout and solidified by the use of asuitable quantity of mortar between adjoining units.

It is, of course, possible to modify my invention to acertain extent withoutdeparting from the inventive idea, and therefore the. drawings are to be consideredas intended for illustrative purposes only andnc-t in a limiting sense. *1

Accordingly, I reserve myself the rightto carry my invention into praeticein all those ways and manners which may enter fairly into the scope of theappended claims.

.I claim:

1. A building unit of the character described, having a substantially rectangular outline with top and bottom surfaces, havin a length equal to twice its width plus a predetermined quantity equivalent to the thick ness of mortar interposed between adjoining units, one of said surfaces being provided with projections and the other with corres ponding'depressions, permitting interlock ing of one unit with another when superimposed thereon so as to totally cover its sur--' face and also permitting interlocking of one end of one. unit with one end ofanother when partly superimposed thereon, in a longitudinal sense, the end surface of each unit limiting the interlocking section, remaining at a distance equal to the width of each unit from the endsurface of the other.

.2. A building unit of the character de scribed, having a substantially rectangular outline With top and bottom surfaces, having a length equal to twice its width plus a pre' determinedquantity equivalent to the thick ness of mortar interposed betweenadjoining another, partly superimposedthereon in a longitudinal sense, the end surface of each unit limiting the interlockingsect-ion remaining at a distance equal to the width of each unit from the end surface of the other,

alignment with a side surface :of the other,

in the interlocking section. 4

3. A building unit of the character de scribed, having a substantially rectangular outline with top and bottom surfaces, having a length equal to twiceits width plus a predetermined quantity equivalent to the thickness of mortar interposed between ad joining units, one of saidsurfaces being provided with projections and the'other-with corresponding depressions, permitting interlocking of one unit with another, when superimposed thereon so as to totally cover its surface, and also permittinginterlocking of one end 'of one unit with one end of another when partly superimposed thereon in a longitudinal sense, the end surface of each unit in the interlocking section remaining at a I distance equal to the'width of eachunit from the end surface of the other, and furthermore permitting interlocking of one end of one unitwith one end'of another partly superimposed thereon in a transversal sense, the end surface of each unit being in alignment with a side surface of the other in the interlock-- ing section. a a i l. A building unit of theiclass described, having a substantially rectangular outline with top and bottom surfaces. having a length equal to twiceits width plus a pre'da terinined quantity, one of saidsurfaces being provided witha central longitudinal ridge and two transversal ridges,izeach located at a distance equivalent to one half the width of said unit, from one of the ends ofsaid unit and the other surface being provided with corresponding depressions permitting interlocking of a plurality of units when arranged in abutting relation to OIlGiIIlOthQI.

5. A building unit of the class described, having 'a substantially rectangular outline with top and bottom surfaces, havingfia length equal to twice its width .plus a pres determined quantity, one of; said surfaces being provided with a central longitudinal ridge and two transversal'ridges, having an outline corresponding to thatofsaid longitudinal ridge, each located at a distanceequivalent to one half the width -'of said.

unit, from one of the ends of said; unit, and

the other surface being provided with .c0r-- responding depressions, permitting 'interlocking of one unit with another arrangedin abutting relation thereto, both in a longitudinal and a transversalsense. I

6. A building unit of thecharacter described, having a substantially rectangular outline with top and bottomsurfacesj having' a length equal to twice its width plusa predetermined quantity equivalent to the eeneer relation thereto, either in a longitudinal or a transversal sense, leaving a clearance space equa-l 'to the said predeterminedquantitybetween the side surfaces of saidltwo additional unitsrfacing each other midway of said ,unit transversely the'reofJ a 7 A wall comprising; a plurality of superimposed horizontal, layers of building" units longitudinally arranged in a row in each layer, the units ofeone layer being in a staggered relation to the units 'of another superimposed layer, each unit having a substantially rectangular outline with; top and bottom'surfaces of a length equal to twice its width plus a predetermined quantity, one of said surfaces being provided with a central longitudinal ridge and two trans versal ridgeseach, located at a distance equivalent to one half the widthof said unit from one ofthe endsof said unit and the' other surface being provided withv corresponding depressions so that the various units will interlock with one another leaving clearance spaces between the vertical end surfaces of adjoining units and a filling of binding material within said spaces;

8. A wall consisting oftwo parallel sections at a distance from one another,'formcomprisingv a plurality of superimposed horizontal layers of building units longiing a hollow wallstructure, each section tudinally arrangedin a row in each layer,

the units of one layer being ina staggered relation to the-unitsof another superimposed layer, each 'unit" having substantiallyrectangularoutline with topgand bottom surfacesandhaving a'length equal-to twice its width plus a predetermined quantity, one of, said surfaces being provided with a central longitudinal'ridge and two transversal ridges each located at a distance equivalent to one half the width of saidunit from one of the ends of said article and the other surface being provided with corresponding depressions so that the various units will; interlock withone another leaving clearance spaces between the vertical: end surfaces oiadjoiningunits, a filling of binding material within said spaces, and trans versely arranged connecting units,interlockin with units of both sectionsto provide a bindingaetion therebetween.

9.v In a wall or building construction, a plurality of buildingnnits of substantially rectangular outline, each unit having means on the topand bottom surfaces atboth sides of the center line thereof, whereby theunits of onecourse may interlock with companion units of another course, the said means of one unit being spaced from the center line of said unit a distance equal to the distance of the corresponding means of a companion unit from the adjacent end surface of said companion unit plus a distance equal to onehalf the thickness of the mortar joint between units in the sal ne course, permitting interlocking of a plurality of units in superimposed relation With mortar joints of the same predetermined thickness.

7 DOMINICK TAMBONE. 

